True Grace
by da Panda
Summary: Zhou Ying is a behaved 14year old girl: watching her brothers, etc. But what happens when a strange boy her age leads her out of her home to go on a journey to find his sister? SEQUEL TO "BEAUTY OF THE FANS"!
1. The Blood of the Qiao

**TRUE GRACE**

**Chapter One: The Blood of the Qiao**

**Six years after the fight….**

"Hey, now," Xiao Qiao said to her young son, Zhou Xun. "No boys in Ying's room. You know that, Zhou Xun."

"Okay." Zhou Xun mumbled, leaving the bedroom to his own. Xiao Qiao gave him a kiss on the forehead as she whispered a loving goodnight to him. She walked over to a bed, where a little girl, five years old, lay. She clutched onto her doll as Xiao sat on her bed with her.

"Get some rest, Zhou Ying. Tomorrow's the first day of spring, and it will be a joyous occasion for us." Xiao said happily to her daughter.

"Can you tell me a story, mommy?" The girl asked.

"Not tonight, sweetie."

"Please?" The young girl persisted with innocence. Xiao couldn't resist it.

"Okay, okay." Xiao got situated as she lay down beside her beloved daughter. "Which one?"

"The one about you and daddy! That's my favorite one!" The girl grinned.

"All right," Xiao breathed in as she prepared the story.

"Years ago, there was a beautiful young girl and her older sister. One night, the younger sister had this dream about a boy she met eleven years ago. That night, she saw him again, and he saved her life from an evil madman. She was given two beautiful fans from a strategist, who told her to fight in a rebellion with the boy she met. The fans had magical powers in them, and she promised to protect her lover. The rebellion was ended as the young woman and her beloved defeated the leader of the Yellow Turbans, the enemy. As they were celebrating, the madman from the nights before took away the young girl and imprisoned her in his palace. She was kept in the bedroom of his prized young woman, who befriended the frightened young girl. With her new friend's help, the young girl escaped, where her lover came for her rescue. In a heroic battle with the madman, he destroyed her fans, but with the power of love, they transformed into a new pair that defeated the madman, finishing him off for good. And that night, the young girl and her lover properly reunited, got engaged, got married, and they still love each other to this day. And today, they have three beautiful children…Zhou Xun…Zhou Yin…and…" Xiao Qiao kissed her daughter on the head.

"Zhou Ying."

………………………………

**8 years later…**

"Zhou Xun, Zhou Yin! Get your butts down here and eat your supper!" An energetic and free-spirited teen girl shouted from the kitchen. Not long after, her two younger brothers came down and ran around, having a fake sword fight with invisible swords.

"I am Sun Jian! The ruler of Wu!" Zhou Yin exclaimed proudly.

"No fair! _I_ was gonna be Sun Jian!" Zhou Xun pouted. This stopped the sword fight.

"I said so first!" Yin stated.

"But I'm older than you!"

"Only by a year!"

"A year still counts, idiot!"

The two continued bickering, which annoyed the free-spirited girl. She took the wooden ladle she was stirring their wonton soup with, and she threw it at them, which barely missed their heads.

"How old are you two again? Fighting over nothing like little boys isn't solving anything!" She snapped at them.

"He started it!" They both said in perfect unison, pointing to each other.

"I don't give a care on who started it, because _I'm_ finishing it." She said as she carried bowls of wonton soup over to the table.

This is what my early afternoons are like. My younger brothers are always arguing over stupid things, even though they're ages twelve and eleven.

_My name is Zhou Ying. I'm fourteen years old. I'm the oldest child in my family. My father is a strategist in the Wu army, and my mother used to fight alongside him, but she usually stays home most of the time. My father doesn't stay home a lot, and I only spot him in the early mornings before he departs from our home._

_My mother usually spends a lot of time with her sister, my aunt Da Qiao, so she gets home really late, too. So, that makes me in charge of the entire house. Pretty cool, huh?_

_**(The rest of this is going to be Zhou Ying's POV)**_

"No fair! Zhou Xun got more soup in his bowl than I did!" Yin whimpered angrily.

"I'm older!" Xun repeated, slurping some soup.

"How do you even complain over these things?" I asked them, sitting down at the table with my bowl of soup.

"But I want to be strong like daddy!" Yin stated to me. I raised an eyebrow. Zhou Yin has been saying that ever since he was three years old, and it surprises me that he's still saying it. He really looks up to his father. "That means that if I have more soup, I'll get more strength!"

"You can have more later. I made plenty." I assured him.

I like being in charge. It gives me that big leadership role, just like father sometimes.

_I've been told many times that I was an exact copy of my mother. My father mostly told that to me. He said that I had her temper, her free spirit, and her beauty. The only thing that I pretty much have of my father is his black hair and his bronze-colored eyes. _

"Zhou Ying! Can we go outside in the gardens?" Yin asked me.

"Yep. It _is_ the first day of spring, after all." I nodded my head, finishing the last of my soup. I'm the quickest eater in my family.

The three of us finished our meals and went outside in the gardens. Xun and Yin played more games with each other as I walked over to an area filled with cherry blossoms. My mother told me a story about how she practiced her fighting skills in this area of the gardens. It's really nice how my mother was so strong at the age of sixteen. I wish I could discover my strengths sometimes.

But, no. Who needs super strength? I have more important things to handle. Like keeping an eye on my little brothers or cleaning up the house.

"Zhou Ying!!" I heard Yin call from behind me. I turned around and saw him running towards me. He looked a little petrified.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him.

"There's a weird guy in the gardens!" He pointed in the direction whence he came from.

"And Zhou Xun is still over there?" I asked him sternly. He nodded his head. I immediately ran over to where Yin came from, and saw Zhou Xun…talking to another person. He had a straw hat on…and peasant-like clothing on. He was also carrying a wooden sword on his back, and his black hair reached to his shoulders. He was leaning against a tree, his whole body hidden in the cool shade.

"Oh, Zhou Ying." Xun spotted me out of the corner his eye.

"Who is this?" I asked him.

"I was expecting this sister of yours to have better manners." The young man in the straw hat said. I got a better look at his face now. He had soft blue eyes, and he looked around my age.

"Zhou Ying, this is Shao Qing. He's a wanderer. He's fourteen, just like you." Xun told me. I didn't have time to show a single part of 'Nice to meet you, Mr. Wanderer guy' at all, and so I gave Shao Qing a menacing stare.

"It's impolite to intrude into someone else's property. I suggest you leave before our parents arrive." I told him.

"Aw, that's mean." Shao Qing said, slumping down to the ground and continued leaning against the tree.

"What's mean is that you're not listening to anything that I say." I snapped at him.

"So your name is Zhou Ying?" Shao Qing changed the subject.

"Yes, it is, now _leave_."

"It's a pretty name."

"Quit changing the subject. Leave this place at once."

"Nahh…" He said. He enjoyed annoying me, I could easily tell. "I like it here. I've been traveling for days."

"Well find somewhere else to stay. This is the last place you would want to stay, believe me—,"

"Could you get me some water?" Shao Qing asked me, completely interrupting me.

"Now I'm your waitress? How rude of you to interrupt a girl like that!" I glared.

"I'll get some water, Shao Qing." Zhou Xun said, running inside of our home to get a cup of water.

Unbelievable…

"What makes me so unwelcome here?" Shao Qing asked me.

"A lot of things, actually," I began. "My mother and father wouldn't allow it, you've invaded our property, and you're just annoying."

"Why, thank you." He said, as if the title 'annoying' was a compliment, and it wasn't meant to be. I groaned loudly.

"I don't trust you staying with us, anyway." I said to him. He chuckled, giving me a grin.

"You remind me of my sister." He changed the subject again.

"How is that?" I asked.

"She has a temper like you, but she's gentle and caring. Her name's Lin Qing. She's a year younger than me, but she still acts like the leader of everything. We traveled together, but we were separated a year ago."

"Separated?"

"We were in a bad place. There was an unexpected battle from the war, and she wanted to participate in the battle, being her strong and adventurous self. She said if she didn't return by dawn, I had to leave. You can guess what I did, huh? She's probably dead."

"Don't be so pessimistic. She's probably still out there." I told him, being comforting for once towards him. He smiled at me.

"And I thought you were a pessimist yourself, and yet you're an optimist? Heh."

"What's so funny?" I asked him.

"If I could, I would marry you." He smiled at me.

"Fat chance!" I snapped at him, and not long after that shriek, Zhou Xun came up, finally bringing Shao Qing his water.

"Why thank you, Zhou Xun." Shao Qing took the small cup of water and he drank the entire thing in just a few large gulps. "That's the stuff. I haven't had a cup of fresh water in such a long period of time."

"Now that you've had your drink, you may leave now." I stood up and walked over to Xun, resting my hands on his shoulders.

"Aww, so soon? I want to stay." Shao Qing smiled playfully. "This tree is a nice place. I'll stay here. Besides, it is a good place to get out of reach from you pesky women."

That really made me mad.

"Pesky? PESKY? **PESKY**?" I shouted angrily. I ran over to Shao Qing, but he jumped up on the larger branches of the tree.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really _should_ learn your manners a little more, Zhou Ying." He smirked. I growled irritably and began climbing up the tree, and without even knowing it; I jumped all the way up to his branch and caught my balance on it. He blinked in shock.

"Yeah, that's right, I'm not a weakling like you suspected. I have both Zhou Yu's AND Xiao Qiao's strength running through me in my veins." I stated in pride.

"I knew it. The daughter of the strategist and Qiao." Shao Qing grinned at me. "I could tell because you have your mother's face."

"How do you know what my mother looks like?" I asked him.

"I don't." He exclaimed. "I just heard from the tales that both Qiao sisters had the beauty to stop birds in flight, drown fish, and make flowers hide their faces in shame. _You_ also have those qualifications."

I blushed. Was I really as beautiful as mother? And mother was irrevocably beautiful.

Shao Qing lept down from the branches and landed beside Zhou Xun. I also lept down from the branch, which was pretty high off the ground, and I landed on my feet just as gracefully as he did.

"Zhou Ying! Zhou Xun!" Zhou Yin came running up to us. I almost forgot about him, to be honest. "Who IS that?"

"This is Shao Qing." I introduced the wanderer to my youngest brother.

"Friend or foe?" Yin asked me. He always asked me this when I was introducing someone.

"Foe. Attack him." I stated. The funny part of this was that Yin was prepared to do so.

"No! Friend! Friend!" Zhou Xun corrected me. I didn't even want to agree with the thought I had about Zhou Xun becoming close to that rat Shao Qing.

"Which is it?" Yin asked Shao.

"Friend." He smiled.

"Oh, thank goodness." Yin sighed.

"You have a nice family here. Yes. I have chosen my best place to stay." Shao Qing jumped onto a branch and laid on it.

"I told you a thousand times that you're not allowed to be here!" I spat at him.

"One, you didn't tell me _a thousand_ times. You exaggerate your sentences too much as being a free-spirited girl. It's their habits, of course. Two, you don't decide where a wanderer must stay. And three, before when you said 'you may leave now', it was a sentence of offering for me to stay here…"

"What does that mean?" I asked up to him angrily.

"You didn't ask me 'You MUST leave'…" Shao Qing stated as he fixed his straw hat to cover his eyes and he crossed his arms to have a nap.

"Wait just a second!" I called up to him, and then I decided to just drop it. "Forget about it. I'll just let you stay there and rot."

"Heeeeey, take it easy there, Qiao descendant," He said. "I can leave here whenever I want to, it could be in five minutes or five days. Don't panic."

I groaned and walked inside.

"Come on, Zhou Xun, Zhou Yin, lets clean up the house before mother and father get home."

…………………………………

My mother came home earlier than usual, which I feared. If she had a slight suspicion about teenagers living in a peach blossom tree in your garden, I would be a goner, even if it weren't my fault.

It was bedtime, and I was going to tell my mother goodnight. She was in father's study room, where books and scriptures were strewn across the floor. Mother was sitting in a chair, writing a letter to her beloved friend, Sun Shang Xiang, who was also in the war.

"Goodnight mother." I said to her, giving her a small hug.

"Goodnight, Zhou Ying…" She smiled at me. "You seem a little stressed today. Did something happen with your brothers and you?"

"No, it's nothing." I hate lying to my mother, because she's the person I rely on the most beside myself. I then heard a loud noise…like dripping…

"Man, it's just the first day of spring and we're already getting some rain in." My mother said, staring out the window. "Well, the garden flowers will be happy because they'll continue blossoming."

Gardens…? Oh no…I hated to even think about him still in the tree…

Without saying a word, I walked away and into my bedroom. I lay on my bed, exhausted from yelling at men my age. I honestly began worrying about him and how he might get sick, but I shook my head.

"It's his own fault for deciding to stay in such a place." I mumbled to myself. After I said those words, I heard loud taps on my window. At first I thought it was just the rain, but when I looked, I could see a straw hat on a soaked figure. Great…

I had no other choice as I got up and opened the window.

"You were thinking about me. I could tell." He smiled, not bothered a bit by the freezing cold rain.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked him.

"A little before you entered your room." He replied. He continued smiling. I just stood there, in the silence, only the pouring of the rain being heard. I then exhaled. Was I really going to do this? What was I thinking?

"Come on. You're going to get sick out there." I lent him a hand as I felt like I was committing a sin. He also looked quite stunned at what I was doing, but took no long pauses as he took my hand and I pulled him into my room. I shut the window and found him a blanket and made a makeshift bed beside mine.

"I honestly didn't think that you were going to let me in." He stated, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. I rolled my eyes and got in my own bed…when I noticed something weird…Shao Qing was in MY bed and not in the makeshift one!

"Hey, do you see that bed down there? Yeah, that's yours!" I stated angrily, but trying not to raise my voice for mother or Xun or Yin to hear. He ignored me, of course, as he put his full body under my covers and glanced up at me, a playful smile plastered on his face. "Get out of my bed." I said through gritted teeth.

"But I want to sleep with yooooouuuu…" He slurred.

He wants to WHAT?!

"Did you hear what you just said?"

"Is it that difficult to sleep in your bed?"

"Focus on what you're saying! It sounds so wrong!!"

"C'mon, Zhou Ying," He gave me a smile and got close to my face. "What harm could it do?"

"You pervert!" I grumbled. I slapped him across the face and pushed him out of the bed. Unfortunately for me, though, the covers were tangled up around him, and around me, too. So, as he was falling, he was also dragging me, and then gravity took over as I reached the edge of the bed. I landed right on top of Shao Qing, where his face was right in my shoulder. This position was VERY awkward.

"And _I'm_ the pervert, meanie?" He giggled. I growled and got off of him, fixing the sheets on my bed. When I was done fixing them, I noticed that he hopped in bed first. His hands were behind his head as he glanced over at me.

"You need to learn manners yourself." I mumbled, just about ready to give up and sleep in my homemade bed. He got one hand out from behind his head and placed it on the empty spot beside him. He patted it softly as he grinned. I sighed, and walked over, lying on the spot. Because it was a little small, I had to lean on Shao Qing's chest to get comfortable.

"See, we have this all worked out now." Shao Qing beamed.

"Shut up." I mumbled to him. "If mother or father sees this and I'm the one to blame, you're a dead man."

There was a long stillness, only the sounds of the rain (which was dying down a bit) being heard throughout the room. I couldn't really sleep at first because Shao Qing kept humming this bizarre tune, and he would always fix his head because of how his neck was getting strained from the same position. I leaned into his chest more and started to smell his clothes…although they were wet, they smelled similar to wheat or fresh grass. He really _was _a wanderer.

That's when my bedroom door opened………………

To be continued…

_**Holy crapples! (Yes, crapples, I invented that word, thank you very much!!)**_

_**I totally forgot about creating a sequel for "Beauty of the Fans"!!!**_

_**Ah, well, it's finally here!!! Thanks for waiting, readers!!**_

_**Okay, I'm horrible at history, so, I don't know much about Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao's family. I don't know if Zhou Ying was the oldest or how far apart the ages of her brothers are, but this is fiction, right? I'm allowed to dream, right? **_

_**I hope you like how I made Zhou Ying. I know that some of you were expecting some perky little girl like Xiao Qiao, but I made her the "Mother" figure, so she acts a little more like Zhou Yu than Xiao Qiao.**_

_**I also hope that you like my character, Shao Qing. I had a tough time on deciding his name, but I found one!! Shao Qing is probably my favorite character in the story. He's like a combo of Edward Cullen and that one guy from that anime…whats it called? Peach Girl? Yeah, that guy! Kairi! Yeah! XD**_

_**So, I hope you like this story, cuz it keeps getting better!!**_

_**-da Panda**_


	2. Luminescence

**Chapter Two: Luminescence**

The door slowly creaked open, and it was too late to just stuff Shao Qing underneath the bed…

"There!" A female voice called out. I was suspecting it as my mother…but this voice sounded…different.

"Uh-oh, here comes company." Shao Qing mumbled. Then, suddenly, the figure that opened the door threw a razor-sharp dagger straight towards Shao Qing and me! Luckily, it missed us by a hair, but after that lucky miss, we dashed out of the bed in less than a second. The figure walked up to the bed and pulled out the dagger. The light from the full moon outside let me see a better view of this girl.

She had elbow-length, raven black hair that was as straight as sticks. She wore a long, light blue Chinese fighting gown with purple designs stitched onto it. She also had fishnet knee-length stockings with matching wristbands, and many fancy silver rings on her fingers. She also had a silver necklace in the shape of a lotus flower. And as I got a better look at her face, she had bright blue eyes, perfect bangs across her forehead, and purple eye shadow, with a small, purple lotus flower tattoo right beside her eye. She looked around my age, too. But I was far too afraid to be admiring attractive people.

"Shao Qing! Shao Qing make Bai Hua angry! Shao Qing run away from Bai Hua nineteen times! Shao Qing must now die!" The young woman shouted, throwing three more daggers. I gasped as I ducked down beside my bed as the daggers missed my location. Shao Qing jumped up and dived over the bed, attempting to kick the young girl, who dodged the kick. She rolled around and prepared to throw more lethal daggers at him. I got a glimpse of the battle, afraid of getting hit myself, but then I remembered how my mother was strong in a situation like this long ago, like in the story.

I had to be stronger. Somehow.

I immediately ran up and grabbed one of the daggers that missed Shao Qing and me. And without any hesitation at all, I ran up and attempted to attack the intruder, who spotted me out of the corner of her eye. She grabbed a dagger and we clashed.

"Girl interrupt fight? Girl should NOT interrupt fight!" The girl screamed. With one motion of her hand, she got the dagger out of my hand, where it landed on the other side of my room. She was about to strike me with her dagger—

"No." Shao Qing slapped the girl on the hand, making her drop the dagger. She looked at her hand, then at Shao Qing, a look of confusion on her face, similar to a child's.

"Huh?"

"I said no. Bad Bai Hua." Shao Qing said, slapping her hand again. She looked at her hand and nodded.

"Bai Hua sorry." She mumbled. I stood there, speechless. What was going on? Who was this girl? How did she enter my house? All of those questions weren't about to be answered as Zhou Yin was at the door…mother right behind him.

"Zhou Ying! What's going on in here?" My mother asked frantically, seeing the two unexpected visitors.

"Mother, you must listen to me—,"

"Answer me! What's going on? Who are these two strange people?" My mother asked again, not even bearing to listen to my excuses. I was about to say something before Shao Qing came up and grabbed mother's hand.

"Allow me to introduce myself," He began. "My name is Shao Qing. Wanderer, at your service."

"Quit acting all fancy like that!" I snapped at him.

"Zhou Ying, get these people out. Now." My mother said, removing her hand from Shao Qing's grasp.

"Mommy," Zhou Yin said. "Shao Qing is a friend of ours. We met him today in the gardens. He needs a place to stay, and Zhou Ying said that he could stay here until he leaves."

"_Zhou Ying_ said that?" My mother gave me a 'we-need-to-talk-young-lady' glance.

"I didn't want him stay! He insisted on staying, and because he's such a pest, I had to let it go, mother!" I exclaimed.

"Heeeyyy, I'm no pest. I'm a good guy." Shao Qing grinned. Don't ask me why he was grinning so merrily in a situation like this.

"Shao Qing stay with Moody Girl?" Bai Hua asked me. Great, now I was known as 'Moody Girl' by her. "Wherever Shao Qing stay, Bai Hua stay!"

"I'm afraid that Shao Qing must stay in another place, Miss Bai Hua." My mother said. "And Zhou Ying, I'm very disappointed in you. You need to take responsibility more, especially when you're keeping an eye on your younger brothers."

"Mother, listen—!"

"We'll talk now, Zhou Ying. Zhou Yin, get back to bed. And you two," My mother looked at Shao Qing and Bai Hua. "We'll talk about this whole situation later."

"Yes, ma'am!" Shao Qing saluted.

"Zhou Ying." My mother gestured me to follow her. She left my room, and with a loud sigh, I followed her out.

……………………………

"Letting strangers into the house? Not telling me? How old do you think you are, Zhou Ying? You can't let people in like stray animals!" My mother's lecture of disappointment and discipline began.

"Mother, if you listened to my side of the story, maybe you would show a little bit of understanding—."

"Understanding? About what, Zhou Ying, letting people into the house while I'm gone?" My mother rubbed her temples in fury. "You should know better than that. Honestly, I would let Zhou Xun or Zhou Yin take care of the house while me and your father are gone."

"Well maybe if you actually listened to me for once I would—!"

"That's enough! If you talk that way to your mother again, you will never hold another responsibility in this house again!" My mother yelled.

It was silent. Never in my life did I even think about my mother yelling at me that way. I stood there, shaken and dazed.

"Fine." I finally spoke up. "If that's the way it is, you not listening to what your own daughter has to say, then that must be what you really, really want." I walked out of the room and returned to my bedroom, holding back my tears as best as I could.

_I lost my mother's trust just like that. The person I rely on the most can't rely on me. _

_How am I supposed to live now? What will she do? Who will hold the responsibilities now? Zhou Xun? Zhou Yin? _

I entered my bedroom, where Bai Hua and Shao Qing were waiting patiently.

"I forgot to mention earlier, Zhou Ying. This is Bai Hua. You see, while wandering a few months ago, I befriended her father, and after saving their village, his reward for me was his daughter to marry. I stated that Wanderer's cannot marry, so Bai Hua was heartbroken, but she's unrelenting to winning my heart, so she follows my tracks to find me and bring me back to her village." Shao Qing said. I wasn't listening much, of course.

"Moody girl not happy? Bai Hua unhappy, too." Bai Hua sulked as she saw my emotion of melancholy on my face. I sat beside Bai Hua and hid my face in my arms. I wasn't crying, I just felt like nothingness.

Nothingness. Whatever that feeling is, it must feel horrific.

I then had a deliberation. What if this was a sign? A sign to get out of the house and become stronger…to find my true strength? What if I had to find my own way to bring back responsibility…the hard way? The courageous way?

I sat up, walked over to Shao Qing, and stared at him right in the eyes.

"When do you leave?" I asked him. I was expecting him to act just like he did when I first met him, but my stare was a sign to him that I had full seriousness about this. He stared at me for a few seconds before replying.

"Soon. You mother isn't so welcoming to my stay." He gave an apologetic grin towards me.

"Then I shall accompany you." I said, looking at Bai Hua. "She can join us."

"Wait," Shao Qing sat up. "Why are you coming with me? And why is _she_ coming with us, too?"

I almost had the urge to giggle to see Shao Qing this flustered.

"Because if my mother can't trust me, then I'd rather be on my own…maybe as a Wanderer." I stated, grabbing my clothes to change into. I got behind my screen and took off my nightgown.

"And Bai Hua is coming with us _because_?"

"Because you and her need some quality time together. She needs to be around with you because she loves you." I said, peeking my head out from behind the screen.

"B-but!" Shao Qing stuttered, but he was interrupted when Bai Hua clung onto his arm, looking up at him with dreamy eyes.

"Bai Hua and Shao Qing finally have time to spend together! Bai Hua so full of joy!"

"Perfect." Shao Qing mumbled in misery. He kind of deserved it for running away from the poor girl nineteen times.

I got on my regular outfit and tied my hair into my pigtails.

"We ready to leave yet?" I asked him.

"Wait." Shao Qing grabbed my shoulder. "Look."

I looked at my doorway and saw Zhou Yin and Zhou Xun standing there. This time mother was not behind them, which relieved me greatly.

"What are you two doing up past your bedtime?" I asked my younger brothers.

"Are you leaving us Zhou Ying?" Yin asked me, tears coming into his eyes. I bit my lip.

"No, I would never leave you guys," I said. "I'm taking you two with me."

"What?" Shao Qing asked me.

"What?" Zhou Xun also asked me.

"I can't just abandon my brothers. How are they going to take care of themselves while I'm gone?" I told Shao Qing. I turned back to my brothers.

"But, what about mother?" Zhou Xun asked.

"What mother needs is a lesson. This is for her own good, you two." I stood up and grabbed Zhou Yin's hand. "It's your decision, though. So, are you coming?"

Xun and Yin exchanged over a dozen or so looks.

"I've always wanted to be strong just like daddy…" Yin finally spoke up. "This is the once in a lifetime chance that it's gonna happen." Zhou Yin looked into my eyes.

"So?" I questioned him.

"I'm coming with you, Zhou Ying." He smiled courageously, just like his father.

"That's great! Just get out of that nightgown of yours." I stated. He nodded his head and rushed to his room to get his regular clothes on. Zhou Xun gave me another serious stare.

"Me too." He said. "I'm coming too! You're my sister, Zhou Ying, I'd never leave you behind!" I smiled at this. Someone tough and independent like Zhou Xun saying this made my heart feel so proud.

"All right. Then it is settled." I turned to Shao Qing and Bai Hua.

"Shao Qing, Moody Girl, Little Boys, and Bai Hua wander together! Bai Hua so full of more joy!" Bai Hua exclaimed happily. I grinned along with her.

"Same here. We all want to be stronger, don't we?" I questioned everyone. We all nodded. Shao Qing walked towards my window, opened it, and was ready to leap out.

"I want to find Shao Lin." He said.

"Your sister, right?" I asked him. He nodded his head yes.

"Shao Lin will be found with Bai Hua's help!" Bai Hua grinned widely and leapt out of the window gracefully. Zhou Xun followed behind her and she helped him out of the window. Zhou Yin followed shortly after. I double-checked that mother didn't hear anything and that she was still in bed, and once the coast was clear, I went to the window. Shao Qing held out his hand.

"Let's go, Zhou Ying." He smiled. I smiled back.

"Yes." And with Shao Qing's help, I leapt out of the window.

_To be continued in chapter three!_

_Panda Flash!_

_Hey everyone! This is finally updated! WOO!_

_Yes. I messed up on Shao Qing's sister's name last chapter. It's Shao Lin, not Lin Qing. Duh. Stupid me._

_So the team is the leader-like Zhou Ying, the laid-back Shao Qing, the third-person addressing Bai Hua, the brave Zhou Xun, and the confident Zhou Yin! WOOHOO!_

_Please keep reading! Enjoy! Review!_

_-da Panda_


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